Happy Halloween
by Kalerin
Summary: Cloud and some of the gang at Halloween. Written in half an hour so not very long or detailed. Just fun.


Growling quietly, the creature approached his hapless victim. Already he felt as though he could smell the blood flowing through those delicate veins. Just a little closer and he would feast. His mouth was open, ready to pounce any…

"Zack, I swear, if you bite me one more time I'm shoving Cait Sith up your ass."

Groaning, Zachery Fair flopped onto the bed beside his best friend. "Oh come on Cloud! I'm a vampire; I'm supposed to bite!"

"And I'm an angel," Cloud replied huffily, stretching his wings. "A creature of light. I should be destroying you and I will if you bite me one more time. Now come on, we're late for the party." At the mention of the party Zack instantly cheered up and bounded for the door, Cloud following sedately.

"I love Halloween!" Zack cried out as they started their walk to Seventh Heaven. "I love the costumes, I love that it happens at night, and I love, love, LOVE the candy."

"Trust me, I know," the blonde said dryly. They hadn't gone far when he spotted the first of his friends and waved. "Vincent! Cid! Over here!"

"'Bout time you got your ass here," Cid grouched as the couple fell in with them. "Been waitin' forever!"

"Three minutes is hardly 'forever'," Vincent said quietly. Cloud chuckled when he saw what the ex-Turk was dressed as.

"A demon? Seriously?" he snickered. Vincent just gave him the evil eye before turning away in a huff.

"It was Chaos's decision," the man hissed, ignoring the laughter. "Besides, it's no more ludicrous then Cid dressing up as an astronaut."

"Hey!" Cid snapped. "What did you say?" As the two of them argued Zack leaned over to Cloud.

"I thought it was astro_nut._"

"With Cid, it's both."

"Cloud!"

Smiling, Cloud waved as a little girl in a blue dress ran over. "Hello Marlene! Well, well, let me guess. Alice, right?"

"Of course," she said with a snort. Just then Denzel appeared and joined them. It took a moment for Cloud to finally turn to him and ask just what he was supposed to be.

"I'm a skater," Denzel said defensively. Marlene just chuckled.

"Actually, he was to lazy to get a costume so that's what he's telling everyone." Everyone chuckled as Denzel glowered at her. Suddenly Zack yelped in shock/terror and they all turned around.

"Shiva's tits!" Cloud yelled, spinning around to look the other way. "What the hell happened to you, Barret?"

"Shut. Up," the big man growled, blushing despite his dark skin. The ears on his head drooped forward as Marlene tried to figure out what was so funny.

"What?" she finally asked. "I'm Alice and he's the white rabbit. I think he looks cute."

"I second that," Zack chortled before ducking a sudden punch. Still laughing, the group moved on. They'd gone a ways before Zack noticed the next addition to their group. "Yo! Turks and SOLDIER's! This way!"

"Calm yourself," Sephiroth scolded as they approached. "Cloud, why did you give him sugar already?"

"I tried not to," the blonde protested slightly. "I hid it really well and then Cait Sith told him where I put it. Which reminds me, can you ask Reeve how much those things cost? Cause I think that one is beyond repair."

"What the fuck did you do to it?" Reno asked with a laugh, lighting one of his smokes. Cloud just gave him a look before snorting.

"A hooker? Reno, the whole point of Halloween is to dress up as something you aren't." Everyone laughed as the Turk glared.

"Yo, that hurt. Besides, I am dressed up as something I'm not." He winked saucily. "I'm dressed up as a _cheap_ hooker." The adults just laughed harder while the kids were blessedly left in the dark.

"And what are you, sir?" Cloud asked as they resumed walking. Really, he couldn't see much different about Sephiroth except that he wasn't in uniform.

"I'm a SOLDIER on his day off," the silver man said dryly.

"To lazy to buy a costume, in other words," Zack teased. "Go walk by Denzel; you two can form a club. Now, Rufus, about your costume…"

"He's an elf," Tseng said tensely. He absolutely hated this holiday. So many people who could attack and he couldn't identify a single one. "He chose to be an ice elf this year and somehow convinced me to be an ancient Wutai ninja."

"Don't let Yuffie see you," Cloud whispered, making Tseng wince. Yes, that was a meeting he'd like to miss. "Cloud!" Funny, Fate must have heard him this time. Instantly Cloud was bowled over by a yellow and brown blur. By the time he got up again Tseng was nowhere to be seen. Hmph. Coward.

"Hello Yuffie," Cloud sighed as he tried to get the monkey dressed girl off his back. She yelled something back before crawling onto his back and holding on tightly. Zack was on the ground, laughing his ass off, while the others tried desperately hard to not smile and laugh. Failing miserably too.

"Sorry Cloud," a voice called. Smiling, he turned around to see Tifa, Aerith, and Nanaki walking over. Tifa was dressed as a witch, like always, and Aerith made a very pretty fairy. Nanaki was, unsurprisingly, not dressed up at all. He didn't understand the allure of Halloween very much.

"I thought you'd be at Seventh Heaven," Rufus said as the now full group continued their way.

"We would have been," Tifa said with a smile. "But Aerith had a costume crisis so I came over to help. Nanaki and Yuffie just tagged along." Reaching the final stretch, the group was just about to pass the cemetery when Cloud paused.

"I'll be right back," he told the group before jogging off among the headstones. The rest settled down to wait when Reno finally sighed and handed Tifa a gil.

"How'd you know Blondie'd be an angel?" he asked grumpily. At his comment everyone else also pulled at gil to hand to the smiling fist-fighter. However, at the question, Tifa quite smiling and stared off into the cemetery.

"When Cloud first joined SOLDIER," she whispered, "his loyalty was tested from day one. Not many know this but Cloud had an older sister. Her name was Karle and they were best friends. Every year for Halloween they would dress up in matching costumes and she would take him around. Then he left for SOLDIER. The day he called to let us know he was here and in was the day we learned that Karle had died. Everyone expected Cloud to come home after that but he didn't. I think he promised Karle he wouldn't come back until he was a SOLDIER. Anyway, every year since her death Cloud has dressed up as an angel and come here to visit her grave. I asked once why he was always an angel and he said 'So that I can always match sis.'"

In the distance the group could see Cloud's silhouette as he kneeled before one grave. All was still for a moment when Yuffie suddenly gasped. Another angel appeared right before Cloud, sitting on the headstone. They couldn't make out the details from where they were but the glow and the wings were clear to see. After a minute or two Cloud stood and the angel vanished. In no time at all the blonde was with them again, smiling despite the tear stains on his cheeks.

"Let's get going," he said folding his wings close to his back. "Time to have fun." As they all walked off Zack lingered for a moment longer, looking back towards the grave. This time he could see the angel as she leaned on the stone, smiling. Her blonde hair and blue eyes erased any doubt of who she was.

"See you next year, Karle," he whispered before turning to leave. He smiled one last time when he heard her chuckle.

_It's a date, Zack._

XxXxXxXxX

_Babble time: Just a random Halloween fic for you. It sucks, I know. Sorry. I'll also try to start updating my other stories soon. Super sorry about that. School sucks, what can I say? Happy Halloween!_


End file.
